"So we reach into the raging chaos, and we pluck some small glittering thing, and we cling to it, and tell ourselves it has meaning, and that the world is good, and we are not evil, and we will all go home in the end."
superhiki:
In Body Thief, I loved how David’s ability to read minds was also a bit of a curse as the mind he read was Lestat’s…
I had this sketch sitting around forever so I slapped color on it and here we are! I’m still not 100% with Ragland James’/Lestat’s body (I think he’s too slight of build) but I’m pleased with David, ahahaha.
"So we reach into the raging chaos, and we pluck some small glittering thing, and we cling to it, and tell ourselves it has meaning, and that the world is good, and we are not evil, and we will all go home in the end"
"For one moment I thought of my beloved Louis. No doubt he was in his crumbling little house in its deep swampy garden in New Orleans, reading by the light of the moon as he always did, or giving in to one shuddering candle should the night be cloudy and dark."
—Lestat - The Tale of the Body Thief (Anne Rice)
“Sometimes you frighten me so badly I hurl sticks and stones at
you. It’s foolish. I’m glad to see you, though I dread admitting it. I shiver at the thought that you might have really brought an end to yourself in the desert! I can’t bear the thought of existence now without you! You infuriate me!” — Louis to Lestat in ‘The Tale of the Body Thief’ (Anne Rice)
"What a miracle, I thought. One tiny flame could make so many other flames; one tiny flame could set afire a whole world. Why, I had, with this simple gesture, actually increased the sum total of light in the universe, had I not?"
"
Very slowly I turned, and I saw Louis’s unmistakable form emerging from the shadows. Only Louis. The light of the candles slowly revealed his placid and slightly gaunt face.
He had on a dusty sad coat, and his worn shirt was open at the collar, and he looked faintly cold. He approached me slowly and clasped my shoulder with a firm hand.
“Something dreadful’s going to happen to you again,” he said, the light of the candles playing exquisitely in his dark green eyes. “You’re going to see to it. I know.”
“I’ll win out,” I said with a little uneasy laugh, a tiny giddy happiness at seeing him. Then a shrug. “Don’t you know that by now? I always do.”
"
—Lestat and Louis, The Tale of the Body Thief (Anne Rice)
"
“No, Lestat,” he whispered. “I can’t do it. Even if I’m wrong and you are right, and all your metaphors meaningless, I can’t do it.”
I took him into my arms, oh, so cold, so unyielding, this monster which I made out of human flesh. I pressed my lips against his cheek, shuddering as I did so, my fingers sliding around his neck.
He did not move away from me. He couldn’t bring himself to do it. I felt the slow silent heave of his chest against mine.
“Do it to me, please, beautiful one,” I whispered in his ear. “Take this heat into your veins, and give me back all the power I once gave to you.” I pressed my lips to his cold, colorless mouth. “Give me the future, Louis. Give me eternity. Take me off this cross.”
In the corner of my eye, I saw his hand rise. Then I felt the satin fingers against my cheek. I felt him stroke my neck. “I can’t do it, Lestat.”
"
—Tale of the Body Thief (Anne Rice)
"
Have you suffered in my absence?“ I asked, looking back at the altar.
Very soberly he answered, "It was pure hell.”
I didn’t reply.
“Each risk you take hurts me,” he said. “But that is my concern and my fault.”
“Why do you love me?” I asked.
“You know, you’ve always known. I wish I could be you. I wish I could know the joy you know all the time.”
“And the pain, you want that as well?”
“Your pain?” He smiled. “Certainly. I’ll take your brand of pain anytime, as they say.”
"
—Lestat and Louis - The Tale of the Body Thief [Anne Rice]
"
He grew reflective again and very sad. It almost hurt me to look at him. I wanted to grab him by the shoulders and shake him, but that would only have made him furious.
“I love you,” he said softly.
I was amazed.
“You’re always looking for a way to triumph,” he continued. “You never give in. But there is no way to triumph. This is purgatory we’re in, you and I. All we can be is thankful that it isn’t actually hell.
"
—Louis to Lestat - The Tale of The Body Thief [Anne Rice]
